Car door



July 23, 1957 Filed March 15, 1954 R. 1. GARDNER ET AL l2,799,900

CAR nooR '7 Sheets-Sheet l i Paw. E. .35E/wee, EEA/Ry 0; 06H51,INVENTORS. BY BM 'fr S July 23, 1957 R. 1. GARDNER ETAL 2,799,900

CAR DOOR 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March l5, 1954 Roeserj.' 65e/abuse, Haz.Z ANDEQso/v, Paz. l. .BEE/MEQ. HEMA? y d /CHS,

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July 23, 1957 R. l. GADNER ETAL 2,799,900

CAR DOOR 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 15, 1954 July 23, 1957 R. l.GARDNER ET AL 2,799,900

CAR DOOR Filed MarGh 15, 1954 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Vlllllllll Fira. 5.v

'July 23, .1957 R. l. GARDNER ETAL 2,799,900

CAR -DooR Y Filed March l5, 1954 7 sheets-sheet 5 17404. ,ZANDERSQM BY fBMM sum1 July 23, 1957 f R. 1. GARDNER r-:TAL 2,799,900

CAR DOOR med Maren 15, 1954 v sheets-sheet e BMJ-RSM fram/Eye.

July 23, 1957 R. l. GARDNER ETAL 2,799,900

CAR DOOR 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed March 15, 1954 MRW .um @www s N. 1 V/ wNo, w a AEM/mw 4 @wwm .1230. S 4 T a Rz/ E .L L E E a a N 04.45 v. RPPHBB www Illblll I III $1 @www United States Patent CAR DOR Robert l.Gardner, Van Nuys, Paul Z. Anderson, Whittier, Paul K. Beamer, Pasadena,and Henry Fuchs, Altadena, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, toChicago Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, lli., a corporation ofillinois Application March 15, 1954, Serial No. l1l6,17tl

27 Ciaims. (Cl. 2li-24) rThis invention has to dogenerally with railwayhouse car doors and is more particularly concerned with doors of a typeadapted especially well to installation in refrigerator cars.

Therefore, though the invention is not at all to be con sidered aslimited thereto, the drawings and description are directed to theinvention as embodied in refrigerator cars and the beginning discussionis based on such an embodiment.

For many years dual, hinged doors, filling doorways about four feetwide, were standard refrigerator car equipment, but in later years suchdoors proved inadequate for certain purposes. For instance, it becamenecessary to increase the doorway width to about six feet in order tohandle palletized loading with lift trucks. This, of course, created newdoor problems, for loading platform clearances, etc., had to bepreserved in spite of the fact that the doorway closure had to be ofincreased width. The clearance would not permit the use of hinged doorsany wider than the old standard.

An attempt to solve this problem was by way of providing six-footsliding doors, but this created new problems. For instance, such doorswere necessarily so heavy as to be decide ly cumbersome, and in manysituations (particularly under bad weather conditions) it was impossiblefor an inspector, working alone, to open the door t even to therelatively slight extent necessary to permit his entry. On the otherhand, such doors Were frequently opened, for inspection purposes, tomuch greater extents than were necessary to permit the entrance of aninspector, leading to the loss of the temperature conditions previouslyprevailing in the car.

lt is therefor among the general objects of the invention to provide aclosure for a wide doorway which allows the maintenance of standardplatform clearance and yet is easily and readily operated under allconditions, and permits inspection-entry with minimum effort on the partof the inspector and without unduly affecting the temperature conditionwithin the car.

Generally, this is accomplished by the provision of a two-part closurefor the doorway. One of the panels or doors making up this closure isrelatively narrow and is hinged to the doorway frame in the usualmanner. Its width is well Within the limit of a swinging door from thestandpoint of clearing loading platforms. lt is this narrow and easilyopened door which is to be opened for the use of iii-transit inspectors,to obvious advantage.

The other, and wider, door is mounted for such movement that it does notexceed the clearance limits as it is beingopened and closed. ln handlingcertain commodities, after the car has been loaded up to the edge of thedoorway, this wide door is closed and the loading may be continuedagainst it up to that part of the doorway which is still unclosed by thenarrow door. The loaders may later leave through the narrow doorway.

The mounting of the wider door is in the general nature of aparallelogram type of linkage, whereby, during the opening and closingmovement, the door continues to lie rice in planes parallel to the planeof the car wall. When fully open, the inner face of the door may, ineffect, be in facial engagement with the outer face of the car wall andthe door completely clears the doorway. The door swings bodily in suchmanner that it never extends beyond the standard horizontal clearancelimits.

We have devised a door mounting and linkage which is novel, per se, and,while it is particularly well adapted for use in combination with anarrow, swinging door, the invention, considered in certain aspects, isnot limited to such use. For example, both doors could be wider than theusual hinged door and mounted according to the mounting of the singlewide door illustrated.

As a preferred, though not limitative, feature, the parallel linkageincludes the employment of a vertically elongated, rigid, rectangularframe.

the car wall adjacent the doorway, while the opposite vertical framemember is pivotally connected to the outer face of the Wide door atpoints spaced horizontally inward from its vertical edge. The horizontalmembers or arms connecting the two vertical members are spaced one aboveand the other below the door, these arms being of the same effectivelength as the link which, in the preferred form of the invention, ispivotally connected at its opposite ends to the door and frame neartheir inner faces. The frame transfers the weight of the door to the carstructure. The linkage is such as to resist effectively all the stressesand strains incident to this type of door hanging. Preferably, theframe, as a whole, is vertically adjustable.

It is also a feature of the invention to provide special means wherebythe clamping and unclamping of the two doors is forced to be inpredetermined sequence, this being accomplished by the way of certaininterferences between the doors and/ or interlocks between theirindividual operating members. For instance, there may be an interlockbetween the operating handles of the individual clamping-cam shafts, andthere may be means by which the entrance channel of the clamping-camkeeper associated with one of the doors is blocked by a member on theother door when said other door stands slightly ajar. 0r the doors mayinterfere in such a manner that, until one door has been closed acertain extent, the clamping cams of the other door cannot beeffectively entered in their keepers.

lt is a general object of the invention to provide, throughout, astructure which, though readily and easily operable and relativelylight, will long withstand the exceptionally severe service conditionsto which apparatus of this type are constantly exposed.

Other objects and features of novelty will be made apparent from thefollowing detailed description.

Fig. l is an elevation showing a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary section on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 2a is a schematic view illustrating the doors in open and closedposition, and may be considered as connected sections taken on lines 2-2and 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary section on line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary section on line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a reduced-scale, fragmentary view of the inner faces of thedoors as viewed from the position of line 5 5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary view, partly in section, of the pinand bracket connection shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the upper mounting of theD-frame;

One of the Vertical` frame members is pivotally connected to the outsideofv Fig. 8 is anY enlarged fragmentary elevation, partly in section, ofthe lower mounting of the D-frame;

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. l is an enlarged, fragmentary View of the cam Fig. V15 is a Vsideelevation of a variational embodiment Y of the invention; Y Y

Fig. 16 is a schematic section on line 16.-..16 of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 isan enlarged fragmentary section on line 417--17 jof Fig.V 15; Y Y

Fig. 18 is an enlarged View of one of the door hinges` shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 19 is an enlarged view of another of the hinges shown in Fig.

Fig.V 20 is an enlarged section on line Ztl-20 of Fig. 15,

The wall of the house car C is indicated generally at W, the detailedstructure of which is nota part of the present invention, which wallframes an opening or doorway O. While the jambs 10 and 11, header 12 andsill 13 make up the door frame, proper, we will use the term framing toinclude both these individual members and also all adjacent parts 'ofthe wall structure, and will refer generally to the same as framing F.

' The closure for opening O is made up of a relatively wide door A and arelatively narrow door B, the latter being hinged at 14 for normalswinging movement, as indicated in Fig. 2a. In contra-distinction, thewide door A is mounted for such movement that it remains substantiallyparallel to wall W at all times. As made apparent in this View, theextent of outward swing of door A may be even less than the radius ofthe swing-arc of door B, in spite of the fact that door A is almosttwice as wide as door B. The very real advantage of this feature hasbeen pointed out in the fore part of the specification.

The particularities of the doors, per se and the sealing or gaskettingthereof, when the doors are in closed positions, makes up Vno part ofthe present invention, but we have conventionally indicated that doors Aand B respectively include rectangular wooden frames 5 and 6, frontal,metal skins 7 and S, and-backing sheets 9 and 9a. We have alsoconventionally lindicated seal strips 15 and 16 between the doors, onthe one hand, and Vthe `sill .13 and header 12 on the other hand (Fig.4),; seal Astrip 17 between jamb l10 and lip 18 of door A, 'and vvsealstrip 19 door Ybetween jamb 12 and the Yhinged end of door B. The

meeting edges 2.0 and 21 are beveled as clearly indicated in Fig. 3, thenature of the lpreferred bevelling being later discussed; door B havinga vertically extending lip 22 adapted to be received in groove 23 indoor A when the doors are closed (Fig. 3). Carried on the lip 22 andadapted to engage the bottom of groove 23 when the doors are closed, isa sealing strip 24. The outer face 25 of door A and the outer face 26 ofdoor B are preferably ush with the outer face 27 of wall W when thedoors are closed. Preferably, also, the inner faces 28 and 29 Vof doorsA and B, respectively, are substantially ilush with the inner face 30 ofwall W.

We will now describe the preferred mounting of .door A. This mountingincludes a pair of horizontal arms 31 and 32, the first `above the topof door A andthe other below the bottom of that door, connected by avertical post or stmt 33 which is mounted on framing F1 for rotationabout va vertical axis, as will be described. The distal ends of thearms are connected by rod or tension member 34, `and .door A Vhasrotational bearing on this rod at 35. A load-bearing spacing washer 36providedV on rod 34 between the lower, door-,carried bearing 35 andlower arm 32, holds the door in properV vertical relation to the openingO, though, as will appear, the entire verticallyY elongated, rectangularor D-shaped frame 37, made up of arms 31, 32, post 33 and rod 34, may bevertically adjusted to shift door A vertically to provide propervertical clearance with respect to the horizontal framing of theopening. It will be apparent that, in the broadest sense, arms 31 and 32do not require interconnection by post 33 and rod 34, it is onlynecessary that the arms be pivotally connected at one end to framing Fand at the other end to door A. However, the illustrated and describedinterconnection of arms make for superior rigidity of structureandsureness of proper continued operation.

While post 33 may be of any suitable formation, preferably it is tubularand has a horizontally elongated, boX- like transverse cross section, asclearly shown in Fig. 2, the post lying at an acute angle with respectto wall face 27 when door A is fully closed. The angle is such that,when the door is fully open, face 3S lies parallel and close towall-.face 27, thus' allowing the inner face 28 of the door also to lieclose to said face V27, in spite of the ample effective widths and ofthe horizontal offsetting of the arms at 39. The post and arms thus havegreat structural strength and yet do not interfere with the full openingof the door.

VWelded within the upper and lower ends of post 33 are coaxial, verticalstuds 40 and 41, the upper stud being rotationally supportedv in bearing42 secured to framing F. Preferably, upper stud 4t) is headed at 43, thehead being spaced above bearing 42 to allow for limited verticaladjustment of frame 37 but serving to take the Vweight of the doorshould the lower bearing 44 fail. Lower, adjustable bearing 44 consistsof a tubular ver.- tical Vstud k45 entered and having rotational bearingin socket 46 which opens downwardly to the end of stud 41. For thevertical adjustment of frame 37 and hence of door A, a bolt 47, having asquare head 48, is threaded into the counter-bore 49 which opens to bore50 of stud 45, a load rod 51 extending from the bolt to the horizontalshoulder 52 represented by the bottom of socket 46.

To releasably hold bolt 47 in adjusted position, there is provided alock member 53 made up of a metal strip bent into U formation, .theupper leaf 54 having a circular hole 55 adapted to take the threadedshank of bolt 47 with annular clearance but not large enough to passsquare head 48, .and the lower leaf 56 having a square hole 57 adaptedto take head 48. The lock is shown in operative position in Figs. 8 and9, the square head 48 fitting in hole 57 and the shoulder 58 at thejunction of the .bolt head and threads engaging the yunder side of leaf54 to prevent ,the member S3 from dropping further. In this condition,the bent over edge l59 of member vb3 is sufficiently close to framing Fto prevent bodily rotation 'of that member, ,and hence, because head 48is in square hole 57, .to -prevent rotation of bolt 47. However, aftermanually lifting member 53 until head v48 is cleared from hole 57, bolt47 may be threaded further into or further out of counter bore 49 tovertically `adjust rod 5t) and hence the entire frame 37 and vdoor A.Member 53 is then drOpped back to the position of Fig. 8, lthus lockingthe bolt Vin its -new position of adjustment.

Referring noWto'Figs. 2a, 5, 6, and 14, there is shown a linkconnection, which, with arms 31, 32 and their mountings makes 11p fheparallel linkage P which controlsthe .movement Aof the door in themanner described. Thus, link .60 is set in door-recess 61, being pivotedat one .end L6,2 to door A near `the junction of inner face 28 andmeeting edge 20, and at the other end 63 to Iframing ,F .near inner face30. When door A is-fully closed, linktl is parallel with the plane ofdoor A. The line S, from a,center 62 to center 63 (Fig. 2a) is paralleland equal in length to the line T from the center of stud 40 tothecentrer Ofjrod 34; .and the line N, from center 63to:tllefcenter of stud,49, is parallel and equalin length to the line 1M from center 62 to thecenter of rod 34.

arcanos Thus, during all periods of movement and rest of door A, link 60remains parallel with arms 31, 32, and therefore door A remainsparallel. with wall W. It will be seen that the system represented bylines S, T, N and M comprises a parallelogram wherein the points and 63are pivotally connected to framing F, and the points 62 and 34 arepivotally connected to door A.

In Figs. 5 and 6 are shown the preferred means connecting the link tothe door A and framing F. Brackets 64 and 65 are identical but arerelatively turned top for bottom. Brackets 64 is adjustably bolted at65a to the upper corner of door A whereas bracket 65 is similarlysecured to framing F just above the doorway. Welded to each bracket is astud 66 and a washer 67. The eyes 68, welded to the pipe 69 which formsthe reach of the link, are applied over the projecting ends 70 of studs66, retainer washers 71 being secured to the studs to hold the link andbrackets in assembly.

Before describing the means for clamping door A in closed position, wewill discuss the novel latch employed for holding said door in openposition, reference being made particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 13.Secured to the outer face 27 of wall W at a point adjacent doorway O, isa bracket 72 having an outwardly projecting U- portion 73 on top ofwhich rests a horizontal staple 74 which is adapted to swing upwardlyfrom its point 75 of pivotal connection with the bracket. The staplestock is extended beyond the side of the bracket as at 76 (Fig. 2) andthen turned town to provide a handle 77 whereby it may be manuallylifted to the dotted line position in Fig. 13.

Secured to the inner backing wall 9a of door A and adapted to line upwith bracket 72 when the door is fully open, is a keeper 78 comprisingan upwardly opening hook 79 having a forward camming face 80 and anoverhanging cam face 81. As the door is swung to a fully open position,cam face 80 will elevate staple 74 so the latter rides over the nose ofthe hook and iinally drops behind the hook, thus latching the door inopen position, bracket projection 73 being engaged by the forward edge82 of the hook to positively limit the extent of swinging movement ofthe door. Should staple 74 fail to drop by gravity to a position behindthe hook, cam face 81 will force it down. Handle 77 provides meanswhereby the stample may be manually rotated to unlatch the door.

We will now describe the means for clamping door A in closed position.Mounted in bearings 83 secured to door A, is a usual operating rod orshaft 84, the shaft being capable of limited rotational oscillation. Theopposite ends of the shaft carry usual crank-type cams 35 (Figs. l, 4,l0 and l1) whose odset crank pins or cam ends S6 are adapted to beentered in the ways 87 of usual keepers S3 on framing F, and thenoperated in the usual manner by shaft rotation to cam the door tightlyshut and releasably clamp it in that position. Upon initial reverserotation of the shaft, the door is forced open by the cams to an extentwhich finally allows the cams to be cleared from the keepers and thuspermit free door opening movement. The shaft 84 is oscillated byswinging handle 39, secured at to that shaft, away from or towards thedoor, the connection 90 being a pivotal one which permits the handle toswing through a vertical plane. The handle is ordinarily swung through avertical plane to more nearly a horizontal position before it is movedthrough a horizontal plane to oscillate the rock shaft 84. When the dooris clamped fully shut, the body of handle S9 is closely adjacent face 25of the door and it is then lowered to drop it into keeper 91 which isfixed to that door-face. The keeper prevents the shaft 84 from beingrotated to release the cam locks except after wilfully lifting thehandle clear of keeper 91. For a purpose to be described later, handle89 is provided with an integral keeper 92 (Fig. l2) and an opposing andspaced-away, pivotally mounted keeper 93. The pivotal connection betweenhandle S9 and keeper 93 is indicated at 94. The free end of keeper 93carries an angularly turned, pierced lug 95, and an oppositely turnedear 96, the latter engaging the upper edge of the handle to preventkeeper 93 from swinging, with respect to the handle, downwardly beyondthe position of Fig. 1. The hand grip 97 of handle 89 is horizontallyand outwardly odset so it may be easily grasped even when the body ofthe handle lies relatively snugly against the door.

A vertical rod or operating shaft 98 is rotatably mounted in bearings 99on door B, this shaft carrying crank-type cams 1%10 whose crank pins 101are adapted to be entered in the ways 102 of usual keepers 103 onframing F, and then operated in the usual manner by shaft rotation tocam door B tightly shut and releasably clamp it in that position. Uponinitial reverse rotation of the shaft, door B is forced open by the camsto an extent which finally allows the cams to be cleared from thekeepers and then permit free door-opening movement. Shaft 98 isoscillated by swinging handle 104, secured at 105 to that shaft, awayfrom or towards the door, the connection 105 being a pivotal one whichpermits the handle to swing through a vertical plane. Handle 104 isordinarily swung through a vertical plane to a more nearly horizontalposition before it is moved through a horizontal plane to oscillateshaft 93. When door B is clamped fully shut, the body of handle 104 liesclose to the door and, assuming door A is also fully closed and clampedshut, directly overlies handle 89, the arms thus crossing each other toform an X. Hand grip 106 is horizontally odset from handle 104.

There is an interlock, parts of which have been described, betweenhandles 89 and 104, which forces predetermined sequential operation ofthe cam locks of the two doors and predetermined sequential opening andclosing movements of the doors. With both doors clamped shut and withhandle 89 in keeper 91, handle 104 lies behind keeper 92 on handle 89,the handle 104 thus being held from swinging horizontally in a manner tounclamp door B. Handle 104 has an integral, pierced lug 107 which isdirectly opposed by lug 9S on swinging keeper 93, the piercings of thesetwo lugs being adapted to take a usual seal (not shown) to prevent theunauthorized opening of the doors, for it will be seen that with keeper93 in this position, handle 104 cannot be swung upwardly to clear itfrom keeper 92 and shaft 98 cannot be rotated. A lug 108 on handle 104engages the upper edge of handle 89 to prevent handle 89 from beingswung upwardly, even though keeper 93 be not wired or sealed to lug 107,until said handle 104 has been lifted from keeper 92. And, of course,with handles 104 and 39 interlocked as described, handle 89 cannot belifted clear of keeper 91 and therefore cannot be swung outwardly in amanner to rotate shaft S4 in an attempt to unclamp door A.

If, now, it be desired to open the doors, it will be seen that smalldoor B must be the rst to be unclamped and forced open, for handle 104must be out of the way before handle S9 is in a condition to beoperated. And it is desirable that the small door be opened first, formany times it is undesirable that the entire doorway be opened up (as,for instance, when an inspector desires entrance) and the opening of thesmall door will do much less to alter the temperature conditions withinthe car than would the opening of the large door. To edect the openingof the small door, the seal, if any, between lugs and 107 is broken andkeeper 93 is swung upwardly to clear the path for handle 104. Saidhandle is then swung upwardly until it clears lug 92 and then swungoutwardly between the end of that lug and keeper 93. The outwardswinging of arm 104 unclamps door B and forces it ajar, as has beendescribed, and the door may then be freely and fully opened. The path ofhandle S9 now being cleared, said handle may be lifted free of keeper 91and swung in a direction to unclamp and force door A ajar, whereuponsaid door may be freely and fnlly opened, as has been described. i c

When both doors are to be reclosed and clamped shut, door A must be thefirst to be moved into a`position ready for clamping, since if door werefirst to be shut, lip 2@ wonld interfere with the closing of door A.Further, of coarse, handle 104 cannot be interlocked with handle 89until handle 89 has been operated to clamp door A shut, and then droppedinto keeper 91.

Without the provision of preventative means there is a possibility thattheV following malfunction might occur. Assume that door A were Aclosedto the extent that its cams 86 rested on theiry respective keepers S8but were not yet actuated to cam the door shut, and that door B werethen Vclosed to an extent allowing the operative entry of its' cams 1011to their respective keepers 103. Then, were the door B to be cammedshut, the adjacent edge 20 of door A would be forced inwardly and theopposite edge forced outwardly, thus causing door A to be fcocked openin a manner putting said door and its linkage under very severedeformation stresses.

Such malfunction is prevented by means forcing a predeterminedoperational sequence which insures that door B cannot be cammed shutuntil door A has reached such a position that its cams 86 are engagedwith their keepers 88 in such fashion that pressure exerted on door A bydoor B will overcome the resistance of those cams with relation to theirkeepers, and cause door A to move through its normal path towards closedposition, rather than causing door A to cock 'In Fig. 14 is shown onemeans for forcing the described sequencek of operations, Ywhile in Figs.15 and 17 is shown a variational means which will be described later.

In Fig. 14, the forcing means includes 'certain relative fashioning ofthe meeting edges 20, 21 of the doors so there will be interferencebetween them which will prevent clamping pressure to he applied to doorB until the door A is in a noncockable position. The dotted linesindicate the positions of doors A and B when fully closed, while thesolid lines indicate their positions wherein certain interference existsbetween them when they are in positions of nearfclosuie.

For purposes of discussion, dimensions will be ascribed to certain ofthe parts, bnt it will Vbe understood theseV ascriptions Vare not at allto be lconsidered ,as limitative. The center of hinge 1; is about 9 fromthe p lane of the inner face 2? .oi door B., and the door corner or edge109., diagonally opposite the hinge, is about 24" to the left of Saidhinsc when .door B is closed. Consoqdcntly cdsc 109, when door B iSboing opened. from its position of full ciosnrc, moves outwardly and tothcleft, as viewed in Fis- 14 in thc ratio 4of Vabout 2.6. to 1. Endface 20 Of door A Slanis to. thc loft so, when Said door is fullyclosed, ,Said foco hns approximately parallel to a chord of the arcthrough which edge 109 moves as door B is being oncncd. End .face .2t ofdoor A preferably is sub- Sicniinlly narailcl .to face 21 when bothdoors are closed. di which iinic ,a horizontal, clcnrnncc ,111. of about1Ai Y exists between faces 20 and 21. The effective length of link 60 is2o and door A moves almost straight out and in during its initialopening and final closing niovcincnis icopectvciy, bccansc of thcParallel linkage previously described, With. nii those conditionsprevailing', VSuppose IWW 11.0111 @COTS have. been Wide opon and that.door A has "Doon .rcclcscd to thc @nicht indicated .in solid lines- Onthc scalo sivcn this, nicnns door A is openi about fyi", in whichposition cams V86 may be engaged with keepers 83, as illustrated in Fig.14. At this time cams 88 stand at about 60 degrees from their deadcenter posi-V tions.V Of course the operator may now rotate the 'cam ina manner to swing and clamp door A fully shut and proceed to close andclamp door VB, ,Buti suppose, before giving door A its nal closingmovement, the operator swings door B into the full line positionvofFig.V 14VV and attempts to force door B fully home. Then, because of therelationships just described, edge 109 will strike faceY 20- offdoorA'near the outermost edge of that face. This clamping pressure cannot beput on door B and such pressure, since it does not exist, cannot beimparted through edge 109 to door` A in a manner to cock the latter.Thus, the interference between face 20 and edge 109, forces the operatormore fully to close door A before he can engage cams 161 on door B withtheir. keepers 103.

if the operator proceeds to more nearly close door A,

without fully Yclosing it, that door will soon reach a posic tion whichwill alltiw the cams 101 of door B toY enter their keepers 103. By thistime the camsS4 of door A will be almost in clamping position, and theirresistance to movement into full clamping position can be overcome bythe forceY applied through edge109Y of door B to door A, as door B` isammed towards its nal position of closure. f, by any chance, door A isnot completely closed in response to, such closing movement of door B,handles 89,. and 19,4 will not be in positions to be interlocked asdescribed, so, to complete the iinal clamping of both doors, theoperator must swing handle 89 through its final movement and drop itinto keeper 9 1 and then swing handle 104 fully home so it may bedropped behind keeper Thus, once door A has been swung inwardly beyondthe limiting position (dotted lines of Fig. 14) the interlocking featureof the two handles comes into play to force final closure in the propersequence.

In Figs. l5 through 20, we have shown a variational embodiment of theinvention. Many 0f the parts, and their operation, are the same as thoseo f the preferred embodiment and will therefore be `given the samereference numerals, with the understanding that the previous descriptionapplies thereto.

In place of the plain hinges shown in the preferred embodiment, thohinscs legend 14h are fashioned in d manner" to provide for. verticaladjustment of door B. Each hinge 14a (Fig. 19,) has a strap 115 securedto framing F vand o Shop 116 Secured. to door B. Strap 1.15 and itspinne boating 1,17 nrc nnrrowcr than is thc space 118 between the pintlebearings 119 on strap 11o. Pintle 1h20 is associated with bearings 111and 112 in the usual mannen boing hcndcd di 121 and, .carrying a lockcollar 122. Because of the vertical clearance between bearings 117 and119 it Will bc Siccn that hinsc 14o permits. limited vertical adjustmentof door B.

Hinge'vlth (Fig. 18) has a strap 125 secured to framingY F 1115 aSir-aP, 12.4 Secured to door B. Strap 123 `cinrics vertically spacedpintle bearings 124a and 125, while strap 124 carries two verticallyspaced pintle-taking bosses 1726.' Vertical clearances 127 existbetween-bearing 12de' and bosses 1.26; while vertical clearance 128emsts between bcaring V and the lower YbossV l126.

Pintle 127.19 extends throughV the several bosses and bearings, its headbeingw/elded at 131 to upper boss 126,. Bearing 125 has a counte'rb'ore'1312 opening to the bore of'nnt 133 which is weldedito the lower end ofthe boss. Threaded into this nut is an adjustment bolt 13 4 having asquare head 135. The lower end of pintle 129 bears on the upper end ofbolt 134, and it will be seen that by screwing the bolt up or down, thepintle 1249, hinge strap 1.2 4 and door B are raised or lowered,respectively, thusl providing for vertical adjustment of the door withrespect to doorway O. locking member 53a cooperates with bolt 134 in thesame manner as that described in connection with lock 53 and bolt 47 Theoperating shaft 9S, cams 100, keepers 103 and their associated parts arethe'same in form and operation as the corresponding parts of thepreferred embodiment. The frame 37a is generally the same as frame 37,except that stud 40a is extended to a point above the car, and rod 34ais rotatably mounted in bearings 35a, thus serving the dual purpose ofrods 34 and 84 in the preferred form. Thus, cranks 8S are applied to theends of rod 34 for operative cooperation with keepers 88 upon rotationof that rod, and the rod also provides the connection between arms 31,32 and between those arms and the door.

In Fig. 16 the full and dot-dash lines indicate the positions of door Aand the parallel linkage when the door is fully closed, while the dottedlines indicate the positions of those elements when the door is fullyopen. Vertical shaft 136 reaches to the same height as stud 46a, beingjournaled in a framing-carried bearing 137, the line of common centersof the shaft and stud being parallel to the plane of wall W. Fixed tostud 49a and shaft 136, respectively, are parallel, equi-length crankarms 138 and 139. These crank arms are normal to the plane of wall Wwhen door A is fully closed. A link 144) connects the distal ends of thecrank arms.

Secured to the lower end of shaft 136 is a crank arm 141, the distal endof this crank being pivotally connected to the outer face of door A at142, the effective length of the crank being equal to the horizontalspacing between stud f-ta and rod 34a. Centers 46a, 34a and 142 lie in aplane parallel to the plane of wall W when door A is fully closed. Itwill be seen that as door A is thrust outwardly from the doorway andnally inward against the outside of wall W, the described linkage actsto maintain the door parallel to wall W at all times, to theadvantageous ends previously spoken of.

The generalities of handles 89a and m4n, their operation and theirinterlock, are the same as those of corresponding elements of thepreferred form, and therefore only the changes need be noted. In theform of Figs. 17 and 20, keeper 91M is secured to door A, as was keeper9i, but the base plate 143 of keeper 91a is extended upwardly andprovides the support for pivoted keeper 93a, whereas, in the preferredform, corresponding keeper 93 was pivoted to handle S9. However, keeper93a functions just as does keeper 93.

ln Figs. l and 17 is shown variational means for preventing the clampingcams 191 on door B from operatively engaging keepers 203 until door Ahas been closedthe reason for such prevention having been previously setforth. Attached to the upper right hand corner of door A is a stop plate144 whose free, beveled end 145 clears keeper way 102 when door A isfully closed. However, when door A is ajar to an extent that theoperation of camming door B shut would bring about the cooking of doorA, as has been described, stop 144 will be in the dotted position ofFig. 17, in which position the end 145 of the stop plate closes the wayi6?. to an extent which prevents the entry of cam 1M to said way.Accordingly, cam 101 cannot operatively engage keeper N3 until door Ahas been more completely shut.

While we have shown and described preferred embodiments of ourinvention, it is to be understood that various changes in design,structure and arrangement may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

Ne claim:

1. In a railway house car, or the like, having a framing dening adoorway in one wall thereof, a pair of doors for said doorway, aparallel-linkage connecting one of the doors to one side of the framingand maintaining said one door in vertical planes substantially parallelto the plane of said wall throughout opening and closing movement ofsaid one door, and the other door being hinged to the other side of theframing for simple arcuate movement about a vertical axis, the opposededges of the two doors being substantially in mutual engagement whensaid doors are closed.

2. The structure of claim 1, including also a pair of releasabledoor-clamping means, one for each door and cooperating individuallybetween said doors and framing, said means being individually operable,and means forcing predetermined sequential applying operation of saidclamping means.

3. The structure of claim 1; including also a pair of releasabledoor-clamping means, one for each door and cooperating individuallybetween said doors and framing, said means being individually operable,said opposed edges interfering with one another when said doors standajar by a certain extent whereby the clamping means for one of the doorsis held out of position to effectively cooperate with the framing.

4. The structure of claim 1, wherein said other door is narrower thansaid one door, and including means preventing opening movement of thewider door until the narrower door is moved out of fully closedposition.

5. The structure of claim 2, wherein said forcing means is mounted onone door and cooperates with the clamping means on the other door.

6. The structure of claim l, including also a pair of releasabledoor-clamping means, one for each door and cooperating with said doorsand the framing, means on each door for independently operating theassociated clamping means, and a releasable interlock between theoperating means on the two doors and adapted releasably to hold bothsaid clamping means in clamping condition.

7. The structure of claim 6, wherein said interlock also forcespredetermined sequential clamp-releasing operation of said operatingmeans.

8. In a railway house car or the like having a framing defining adoorway in one wall thereof, a pair of doc-rs pivotally connected to theframing to swing to opposite sides of the doorway, a pair of releasabledoor-clamping means, one for each door and cooperating between saiddoors and framing, said means being individually operable, and meansforcing predetermined sequential applying operation of said clampingmeans.

9. The structure of claim 8, wherein said forcing means is mounted onone door and cooperates with the clamping means on the other door.

10. rI'he structure of claim 8, wherein one of said clamping meansincludes a keeper on the frame and provided with an entrance channel,and a cam rotatably carried by one door and adapted to tranverse thechannel during clamping and unclamping operation, and said forcing meanscomprises a member carried by the other door and blocking said channelat times when said other door is not fully closed.

11. In a railway house car or the like having a framing defining adoorway in one wall thereof, a pair of doors pivotally connected to theframing to swing to opposite sides of the doorway, a pair of releasabledoorclamping means, one for each door and cooperating between said doorsand framing, said means being individually operable, the clamping meansfor each of said doors including a keeper on the framing, a camrotatably carried by the associated door and engageable with anddisengageable from the keeper, a rotatable operating shaft carried onthe door and connected to the cam, and an operating lever on the shaftfor rotating it, said lever being connected to the shaft for movementpivotally about an axis transverse of the shaft axis; a lever-keeper onone door for releasably holding the lever on the associated door fromshaft-rotating operation, the lever being movable into the lever-keeperby virtue of its pivotal movement with respect to the shaft, a secondlever-keeper mounted on the last named lever, the lever on the otherdoor being releasably engageable with the second leverkeeper and beingthereby releasably held against shaftrotating operation.

12. A structure as in claim 11, including also a releasable holdingmember mounted on said one door and engageable with the last named leverto hold it releasably against movement out of the second lever-keeper.

13. A structure as in claim 11, including also a releasable holdingmember mounted on the rst named 11 lever and engageable with the leveron the other door to hold it relcasably against movement out oi thesecond lever-keeper. 1

14. Ina railway house car or the like having a framing defining adoorway in one wall thereof, a door f9.1

said doorway, and a parallel-linkage connecting the door to the framingand maintaining said door in vertical planes substantially parallel tothe plane of Said Wall thfOUghOllt opening and closing movement of thedoor, said linkage including a pair of upper and lower horizontal arms,each pivotally connected at one end to one side of the framing at theoutside of the wall and pivotally connected at its distal end to theoutside of the door, one arm being above the door and the other armbeingbelow the door, and a link pivotally connected at one end to thetrame near its inner face and at the other end, to the door near itsinner face, the line common to the pivot centers of the link beingparallel to the plane common to the pivot centers of said arms, the linkand said arIllS being of substantially equal eiective length.

l5. In a railway house car or the like Yhaving a framing deining adoorway in one wall thereof, a door for said doorway, and aparallel-linkage connecting the door to the framing and maintaining saiddoor in vertical planes substantially parallel to the plane of said wallthroughout opening and closing movement of the door, said linkageincluding a vertical member mounted on the framing at one side of thedoorway for rotation yabout a vertical pivotal axis, a pair ofhorizontal arms rigidly connected, one each, to the member near itsopposite ends, one Varm being above the door and the other armI beingbelow the door, a pivotal connection between the distal end of each armand the door near the outer face thereof, and a link pivotally connectedto one end to the framing near its inner facerand at the other end tothe door near its inner face, the line common to the pivot centers ofthe link being parallel to the plane common to the pivotal axis of thevertical member and the pivotal connections between the arms and thedoor, the link and said arms be;

ing of substantially equal effective length.

16. A structure as in claim l5, including also means for verticallyadjusting the vertical member with respect to said framing and doorway.Y

17` In a railway house car or the like having a framing dening a doorwayin one wall thereof, a door for said doorway, and a parallel-linkageconnecting the door to the framing and maintaining said door in verticalplanes substantially parallel to the plane of: said wall throughoutopening and closing movement of. the door, linkage including a pair ofupper and lower horizontal s each pivotally connectedV at one end to oneside. of the framing at the outside of the wall, one arm being abovelthe door and the other arm being below the door, a vertical memberconnecting the arms*V at points adjacent their pivotal connections withthe wall, a rotatable vertical rod connecting the distal ends ofj saidarms'and'pivotalily connected to said door, said rodA projectingvvertici" l above the upper arm and below the, lower arm, cams onk theaxial projections ofthe rod, said cams being adapted to cooperatewith'keepers onthe when the door;`

is closed, and means for rotating the rod.

1S. In a railway house car or the like having a framing defining adoorway in one wall thereofa door for said doorway, and aparallel-linkage connecting the door to Ythe framing and maintainingsaid doorin Vertical planes substantially parallel to the vplaneof'said,4 wallthroughout opening and closing'movement of the door, saidlinkage including a pair of upper and lower horizontal arms, pivotallyconnected at one end to one side of the framing. at the outside ofv thewall and pivoftallyvv connected atfits' distal end to the outsideof thedoor, one arm being above. the door and the other arm heilig below thedoorfa vertical shaft connected to said upper arm and coaxial with itspivotalA axis, a second vertical shaft parallel to the rst shaft androtatably mounted on the framing near the distalY ends of the arms, whenthe door is closed, a

arras,

'12 pair of parallel, equi-length crank arms, one on each shaft andextending at substantially right angles with respect to the, plane ofthe door when the door is closed,

a link connecting the distal ends of the crank arms, and a 4crankcarried by said second shaft and pivotally connected to said door, saidlast named crank being parallel to land of the same effective length assaid arms.

19,. A railway house car side wall and door assembly including a rigidframe4 of greater height than the door and comprising ansupright havingpivotal connections to fared points on the outer side of the car walland with horizoutals extending from said upright over the top and belowthe bottom of the door, respectively, and pivotally mounting the doorintermediate its front and rear edges. 20. In a railway house car anddoor assembly comprising an upright wall having an opening, a doorthere-V for, door support structure comprising horizontals swingingabout a -Xed axis on the wall and positioned above the level of the topot? said opening and below the level of the bottom ofsaid opening,respectively, with their outer portionsV swinging outwardly and awayfrom said wall and then lengthwise thereof and then towards the same,the outer portions of the horizontals being pivotally connected to saiddoor intermediate its front and rear edges,

2l. A railway house car and door. assembly as described in claim 20, inwhich the horizontals are pivoted to the 'wall at points. spacedlongitudinally of the wall from the opening.

22.. A railwayV house-car side wall and door assembly including a rigid,open, rectangular frame of greater height than the door andy positionedoutwardlyV of the car sidewall and door and with an upright havingpivotal connections to the outer side of the car side wall and anupright spaced therefrom having pivotal connections to the outer face ofthe door, and with horizontals extending between said uprights over thelevel of the top and below the level of the. bottom of theV door,respectively, to pass a portion of the door parallel to the wall andthrough the rectangular frame as the frame and door swing on theirrespective pivotal connections.

23. In a car having side framing forming a doorway, a door, parallellinkage connecting said doorl to the framing` and: providing formovement of the door from a position to close part of the doorway to aposition clearing the doorway and maintaining said door in Verticalplane substantially parallel to the plane of the framing, and anotherdoor mounted. on the framing to close thereinainder of the doorway andto clear the doorway.

24. A structure according to claim 23 including also individual devicesfor locking each door, when closed; to. the framing, said. devices beingoperable individually, and said devices havingassociated therewith meansproviding predetermined sequential operation ofsaid devices;

25. In a railway house car or the like having a framing definingy adoorway in one wall thereof, a door for said doorway, and aparallel-linkage connecting the door to. the framing` and maintainingsaiddoor in vertical planes substantially parallel to the plane of saidwallv throughout openingv and closing movement of the door, saidlinkagev including a pair of upper and lower horizontalk arms, eachpivotally connected at one endto'oneY side of. the framingat-theroutside of the wall and pivotally connected at its distal end tothe outside of the door, one arm being above' the door andthe other armbeing below the door,tand a link pivotally connected at one Yend to theframing and at the other end to the door, theA points of` connection ofsaid link to the framing and to the door being spaced lengthwise oftheframing equal distances in the same direction'from the points of=connection or" said linkage to the frame and door respectively.

l 26. Inra railway house car having a side wally with a door opening, apair of doors for saidopening having interengaging meeting edges, saiddoors moving trans-k versely of said wall away from the same duringvinitial 13 opening movement, individual manually-operable means on eachdoor, associated with the wall for holding the door to the Wall, andmeans forcing predetermined sequential operation of said holding meansduring initial opening movement of the doors.

27. In a railway house car having an opening in its side Wall, a pair ofdoors for lsaid opening having interengaging meeting edges, individualmembers mounting said doors for movement transversely of said Wall awayfrom the same during at least a portion of their opening movement, andmeans for individually adjusting said door mounting members verticallyto vary the height of the doors relative to the car side Wall and toeach other.

References Cit-ed in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 443,956Crumbaugh et al. Dec. 30, 1890 14 Le Gos Aug. 4, Garland Sept. 2, MooreJuly 14, Taylor Aug. 1, Patton Aug. 8, Chase Feb. 23, Douglass Oct. 22,Roper Jan. 7, Werner Nov. 17, Madland July 3,

FOREIGN PATENTS France July 13,

